Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Nocardioform placentitis with isolation of Amycolatopsis spp in a Florida-bred mare.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 2006
- Authors:
- Christensen, Bruce W et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 4-year-old Thoroughbred mare in Florida was having problems with her placenta, including some abnormalities and a piece of it that wouldn't come out after giving birth. Tests showed that a type of bacteria called Amycolatopsis was present in the placenta. After treatment that included flushing out the area and giving a hormone called oxytocin, the retained piece of placenta was expelled shortly after she gave birth. Unfortunately, while the foal was initially healthy, it later died from complications during a surgery at 7 weeks old, and the mare did not get pregnant again despite several attempts. This case suggests that the type of placental infection seen here may be different from those typically found in Kentucky, indicating it could be a new concern for horse breeders.
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: A 4-year-old Thoroughbred mare was evaluated because of placental abnormalities and a retained placental remnant. CLINICAL FINDINGS: Microbial culture of the placenta yielded pure growth of Amycolatopsis spp. Histologic examination of the placenta revealed a focally expanding chorionitis with intralesional gram-positive filamentous bacilli and multifocal allantoic adenomatous hyperplasia on the apposing allantoic surface. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Treatment with lavage and oxytocin resulted in expulsion of the placental remnant within hours of parturition. The mare did not become pregnant again despite multiple breedings. The foal appeared healthy but died of complications during an elective surgical procedure at 7 weeks of age. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: To the author's knowledge, all previously confirmed cases of nocardioform placentitis have been in mares bred in the central Kentucky region. Indications that the pathogen in the mare reported here is a different species than that isolated in Kentucky suggest that this is an emerging disease. Mares with nocardioform placentitis usually do not have the same clinical signs as mares with placentitis resulting from an ascending pathogen.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16618229/